Switch mechanism for toy railways



Feb. 5, 1924. 11,4@2,@40

A. R. FERGUSSON ET AL swI'rcH MECHANISM FOR TOY RAILWAYS Filed April 17, 1923 ALAN R. FERGUSSON AND CONSTANCE T. FERGUSSON, "OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SWITCH MECHANISM FOR TOY RAILWAYS.

Application filed April 17, 1923. Serial No, 632,610.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ALAN R. FnRoUssoN and CONSTANCE T. FERGUSSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switch Mechanism for Toy Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to switch mechanism for toy or miniature railways, an object of the invention being to provide an in iproved toy or miniature switch structure which may be readily and economically ,n'ianufactured, which may be manipulated or ,operated with great vease and facility ,without getting out of, order, and which will be strongly and durably constructed .so as to be practically indestructible and adapted to withstand the hardest usage.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toy railway switch formed from wirerails mounted upon a composition or fiber; board supporting platform and secured in position forproper operation so as to form a firm, strong and stable structure having no wabbly ;or shaky joints or connec tions tendingHt-o impair operation or cause theswitch to get out of order.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved toy railway switch having a continuous platform support preferably formed from ,fiber or composition board constructed to simulate a railroad bed, and having wire rail switch mechanism so mounted thereon and operated in an improved manner as to provide an efficient and advantageous toy device of'great utility.

Other objectsof this invention will appear in the following description and the ap pended claims thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference zi-haracters indicate corresponding parts in the several views and wherein Fig. l is a plan view illustrating our invention; Fig. Zis a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on line 22 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3,.is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the lever mechanism for operating the switching rails.

Beforeexplaining in detail the present improvement and mode of operation thereof .we desire tohave it understood-that the inventionis not limited to the details of construction and ar gement of parts which are illustrated in thevaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that the phraseology which we employis for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The present invention 111 general com prises a switch section havin-ga continuous fiber or composition board support preferably simulatin a railway bed, and mounted upon this board in fixed position are apair of converging track sections formed from lengths of wire rail. Also mounted upon the platform support is -a wire formed switching section including a pairof wire rails rigidly secured adjacent to one end thereof to the support and having the opposite ends free to be shifted into co-operation with the rails of either of the converging track sections. An improved self-lockinglever mechanism is preferably provided for shifting the switching rails, and in order to provide an effective interlocking jointbetween the ends of the switching rails and either pair of rails of the converging sections, certain of the rails are notched at their ends so as to provide mating projections and recesses adapted to cooperate to form an effective joint.

Referring to the drawings it will be seen that the rail parts forming the switch are mounted upon a platform support 9 cut to the desired shape and size and preferably formed from composition board or fiber.

I This platform support is readily adapted to be printed or otherwise formed to simulate or resemble a railway bed, having imitation cross ties and rock ballast ascl early shown in Fig. 1. The fiber or composition board not only provides an advantageous medium for securing the rails of the switch in position, but also forms a firm and stable support for the switch, and at the same time a readily portable, durable and cheap structure. The composition board is cut at one end so as to accommodate apair of converging track sections A and B. The track section A comprises an outer main line wire rail 10 secured to the supporting platform by means of rivets 11 which extend through the rail and support and rigidly hold the rail in position. The track section B comprises an outer curved wire rail 12 also riveted at 13 to the platform and thereby held in fixed position. The section Aalso comprises a wire rail 14: extending in parallel relation to the rail 10 and riveted at to the support, and a corresponding wire rail 16 of the section B and riveted at 17 to the support forms with the rail 14 a frog point 18. As illustrated the wire rails 14 and 16 are suitably tapered at their ends so as to unite to form a frog point and are preferably welded together. The section B also comprises an intermediate wire rail member 19 which is riveted at 20 to the supporting platform, and which extends in prolongation or alinement with the wire rail 16 but with the end thereof suitably spaced from the frog point 18. An intermediate wire rail 21 also terminates in spaced relation to the frog point 18 and is located in prolongation or alinement with the rail 14,-this rail 21 also being secured or riveted at 22 to the composition board support.

The present toy railway switch is constructed for use in connection with an electrical toy railway system, and for this purpose the switch is provided with power rails for conducting current to the toy engine. A power railmember 24 preferably formed of wire is mounted upon the platform intermediate the rails 10'and'14. A corresponding power rail member 23 is also mounted in position intermediate the rails 12 and 16. Extending in prolongation of the power rail 24 is a power rail 25 having the end thereof preferably tapered and spaced from the intermediate rail 19. A third or power rail 28 is also located in position so as to be in substantial prolongation or alincment with the third rail member 23. The several rails 23, 24, 25, and 28 are rigidly secured to the supporting platform so as to beheld in relatively fixed position and these rail membersare preferably connected to the support by substantially similar means, this means preferably comprising rivets 26 projecting through the platform and wire rails. The several power'rzil members are preferably spaced from the platforr. sup-port so as to permit more effective engagement of the contact roller of the toy engine therewith, and in the present instance a washer 27 is interposed between the power rail and the support and through which the rivet 26 extends.

The wire formed power rail 24 is preferably tapered at one end 24 thereof so as to conform to the curvature of the rail 19 and is preferably spot welded thereto to form a rigid joint. The power rail member 28 is also tapered atone end and preferably extends into a notch or recess 29 formed in the rail 25 andat this point the rails 28 and 25 are preferably welded together.

ll lounted upon the fiber or composition board support is a wire. formed switching section comprising a pair of spaced wire or cylindrical rails 30 and 32 located in parallel relation and adapted to be switched into rasaeao cooperation with either of the sections A and B. The wire rail 30 is secured at one end to the composition board support as by means of a rivet 31 extending through the rail and composition board the opposite end of the rail being free from any connection with the support. The wire rail 32 is also secured at its corresponding end to the composition board support by means of a rivet 38, and the opposite end of this rail is also free from connection with the support. EX- tcndingtransversely beneath the free ends of the switching rails 30 and 32 is a clamping link 34 secured as by means of rivets to the rails. The rivets as shown in Fig. 2 preferably extend through the rails so as to firmly connect with the link 34 and the rails together. The platform support is provided with an extension 9" andupon this extension is mounted a supporting plate 36 secured thereto as by means of screws 38 extending through holes 37 in the plate 36. Pivoted at 41 to the plate 36 is a horizontally swinging lever 39 having a projecting handle 40 at one end thereof for the purpose of manipulating the same. The opposite .endof this lever is pivotally connected to the transverse link 84 by means of a link 42. This link 42 may be formed of wire extending through holes 43 and 44 in the ends of the link 84 and lever 39 respectively and bent or coiled so as to interlock the same together. At opposite sides of the swinging lever 39 the plate 36 is provided with bent up lugs or projections 45 and 46 forming stops forlimiting the swinging movement of the lever.

In order to provide an efficient joint between the ends of the switching'rails 30 and 32 and the several rails of the track sections A and B, the rail 32 at its extreme end is notched or recessed at opposite sides to provide a projection 47. The wire rail 10 is also notched or recessed at 48. It will be seen from this construction that the notches in the ends of rails 10 and 32 will provide mating projections and recessesforming a relatively perfect interlocking joint. Also it will be noted that the tapered end of the intermediate rail 19 will also fitinto a notch 47 in the end of the rail 82 as shown in Fig. 1, thus forming a smooth joint in this position of the switching rail 32. The juxtaposed ends of rails 12 and 30 are also notched on opposite sides so as to provide mating projections 49 and 50 so that when these two rails cooperate or are located end to end the notches will permit the ends to mate and form a relatively perfect interlocking joint. 7

From the foregoing it will be understood that the free spring ends of the switching rails 30 and 32 under tension from their normal position in prolongation with the rails 10 and 21 of section it into prolongation with the rails 12 may be shifted horizontally and lt) of section B. This isaccomplished by grasping the handle 4:0.and swinging the lever39 from the dotted lineposition shown in 'Fig. 1 tothe full line position. In this operation the lever39- will shift link 42-endavise, thus shifting transversely the liiiksiie =and thereby-switchingthe rails and 32 into the full line positionshown in l-Fig. 1. Thedever 39 will-be=moved into self-locking position thereby automatically lockingthe rails30 and 32 in theirswitching vposition and under tension. This is due toithe fact that the pivot all will be shifted torthe' right of the line passing through the pivots 43 and a4. Iii-order to switch therails'30 and'32 :back .into their positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, it is merely necessary to shift the lever 39 to the left sufficiently to cause the pivot 4i to pass beyond-the .line passing through the pivots L3 and 4C1v and .thei'euponthe tension of-rails 30 and 32 will operate to automatically return the rails to their normal position in alinementwith the :main rail section A.

For the purpose of releasably oining the opposite ends of theswitchto the track sections of a toy railway, theseveral Wire rails areprovided with suitable dowels anddowel receiving ends. 111 the present instance the wire rails of sections Aand Biliavetheterminal ends thereof reduced or turned down to form projecting dowels 51. Iii-joining these sections to a pair ofadjacent sections of a toy railway it will beiunderstood that the dowels 51-willbe inserted in suitable tubular portions or dowel receiving ends of the adjacent rails. ,At the opposite end of the switch the'wire rails 25, 30sand'32 are bored to receive tubular or dowel receiving portions 52.

, It will be notedthat, the power rail 25 freely extendsover the, transverse link 34, and is suitably insulated therefrom by .means of insulating strip 53 interposed between therailand the linkfi l. It .will be seen that the fiber or composition boardasupport 9 not only provides a firm, portable support for'the several rails but also forms ,an insulating medium so that the power rails may be rigidly secured in position thereon without necessitating the provision ,of any additional insulating-means as has, heretofore been the casewhere-metalpower trails have been mounted upon; ametalfounl dation or metal rails.

It is to be understood that by describing in detail herein any particular form,, ;structure, or arrangement, it is-vn'otintended to limit the invention'beyond the terms, of'the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of our invention, and described a way: of constructing, and using the 31118, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in for shifting the opposite ends of said rails uvhich is may bermade, or all of themodes of its use, we claim:

1. In a .toy irailwayswitch the combination. of a composition boa-rd support, two

pairs of convergingavire rails secured thererto,-:a pair of'wire railssecured adjacent to the ends thereof to said support, and means including a;swinging leverwfor shifting. the opposite ends of said lastwrails into ahnement with either ofsaidfirst pairs of railsn Ina toy rail-way switch the combination of a composition board support,'two

pairs of converging wire rails secured there- :to,- a paiirof wire rails secured adjacent to the ends thereof to said support, and means including a swinging lever pivoted to said support and link-connected to said last rails for shifting the opposite ends thereof into alinement with either of said first pairs of erails.

In a toy railway switch the combination of aplat-forin support, a pair of wire formed'switching rails secured at the ends thereof tothe support, and a swinging lever swinging movement into position to automatically lock said rails under tension.

6. In atoy railway switch the combination of a composition board support, two

pairsofconverging wire formed rails rig- .idly' secured'to said support, a pair of Wire formed switchingrails secured at the ends thereof to the supportand having the oppovsite ends: thereof free to shift into alinement with either of saidfirst pairs of rails, and a swinging'lever for shifting the same.

7. In toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support, two

pairs off-converging wire formed rails rigidly secured to said support, a pair of wire -formed' switching rails secured at the ends Hthereofto: the support andhaving the oppo- .siteendsthereof free to shift into alinement with either of said first pairs of rails, and ;a; swinging self-locking lever for shifting :the same.

' :i 8. in aztoyrailway switch the combination of two pairs of-converging wire-rails hjel.d,: in fixed relation, apair of wire switching rails "having notched ends, and means for shifting said notched ends into alinemeat with either of said first pairs of rails.

9. In a toy railway switch the combination of two pairs of converging wire rails held in fixed relation, a pair of wire switching rails having notched ends, and means for shifting said notched ends into alinement with either of said first pairs of rails,

said means comprising a transverse. link secured to saidswitching rails, swinging le ver, and a link connecting said lever and transverse link.

10. In a toy railway switch the combination of two pairs of converging wire rails, one of each having a notched end, a pair of wire switching rails having notched ends, and means for shifting said switching rails into position to bring into juxta iosition certain of said notched ends.

11. In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support, a pair of wire switching rails riveted adjacent to the ends thereof to said support and having the opposite ends free to swing in a horizontal path, and a swinging lever link-connected to said free ends for shifting the same in one direction under tension.

12. In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support, a pair of wire switching rails riveted adjacent to the ends thereof to said support and having the opposite ends free to swing in a horizontal path, and a swinging lever link-connected to said free ends for shifting the same in one direction under tension, said lever being pivoted for movement into selflocking position.

1 In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support, a pair of wire switching rails rigidly secured to said support adjacent to corresponding ends whereof and havin the opposite ends free to swing in a horizontal path, a transverse link extending beneath said free ends and secured thereto, a swinging lever pivoted to said support, and a link pivotally connecting said lever and transverse link, said lever adapted to be shifted in one direction for shifting said switching rails under tension. 14,-. in a toy railway switch the combination of a. composition board support, a pair of wire switching rails rigidly secured to said support adjacent to corresponding ends thereof and having the opposite ends free to swing in a horizontal path, a transverse link extending beneath said free ends and secured thereto, a swinging lever pivoted to said support, and a link pivotally connecting said lever and transverse link, said lever being shift-able'in one direction to shift said switching rails and automatically lock the same under tension, and being automatically shifted by said rails in the opposite direction upon partially releasing the lever.

' thereto.

15. In a toy railway switehthe combinapair of converging wire track sections rigidly serured to the support, and including each a wire powerrail, and a wire switching section including a pair of switching rails rigidly secured at one end thereof to the sup port and having the opposite ends free to shift into cooperation with either of said track'sections, said switching section having a wire power rail secured to said support 7 in fixed position.

16. In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support constructed to simulate a railway bed, a pair of wire switching rails fixed to said support adjacent to one end of the rails and having the opposite ends thereof free to shift under tension, anda wire power rail secured to said support intermediate said rails and held in fixed position with relation 17. In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support constructed to simulate a railway bed, a pair of wire switching rails fixed to said support adjacent to one end of the rails and having the opposite ends thereof free to shift under tension, a wire power rail secured to said support intermediate said rails and held in fixed position with relation thereto, and a lever pivoted to said support and having connection with each of said free ends for shifting the same.

18. In a toy railway switch the combination of a composition board support constructed to simulate a. railway bed, a pair of wire switching rails secured adjacent to one end thereof to said support and having the opposite ends forming free spring ends, one of said rails having a tubular dowel receiving end, and one having the free end thereof notched.

19. In atoy railway switch the combina tion of a pair of converging track sections including a wire railhaving a fixed notchet end. a switching'section includinga wire rail having a movable notched end, and means for shifting said movable notched end 7 into position to mate with said fixed notched ing a fixed notched end, a wire rail secured at one end to said support and having a movable notched end, and means for shifting the same whereby said notched ends will mate to form a joint, 7

Signed at Buffalo, N, Y., this 12th day of April,1923. j V. -ALAN R. FERGUSSON.

CONSTANC-E T. FERGUSSON. 

